Ascent Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASCMA) was downgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

According to Zacks, “Ascent Capital Group, Inc. is a holding company and its assets primarily consist of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Monitronics International, Inc. The Company provides security alarm monitoring and related services to residential and business subscribers throughout the United States and parts of Canada. Monitronics monitors signals arising from burglaries, fires and other events through security systems at subscribers’ premises. Ascent Capital Group, Inc., formerly known as Ascent Media Corporation, is based in Englewood, Colorado. “

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A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on ASCMA. Imperial Capital cut their price objective on Ascent Capital Group from $21.00 to $15.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 11th. ValuEngine downgraded Ascent Capital Group from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, August 7th. Finally, Piper Jaffray Companies set a $14.00 price objective on Ascent Capital Group and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday.

Shares of Ascent Capital Group (NASDAQ:ASCMA) traded up 1.64% during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $11.80. The company had a trading volume of 42,935 shares. Ascent Capital Group has a 12 month low of $11.36 and a 12 month high of $26.16. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $16.09 and a 200-day moving average of $14.93. The company’s market cap is $143.58 million.

Ascent Capital Group (NASDAQ:ASCMA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 9th. The industrial products company reported ($3.58) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of ($1.90) by $1.68. Ascent Capital Group had a negative return on equity of 46.93% and a negative net margin of 19.15%. The business had revenue of $140.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $142.68 million. On average, analysts expect that Ascent Capital Group will post ($8.02) EPS for the current year.

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In other news, major shareholder Opportunistic Value Fun Okumus sold 150,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.00, for a total value of $2,550,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Okumus Fund Management Ltd. sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.11, for a total value of $34,220.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 158,600 shares of company stock worth $2,697,278. Company insiders own 8.65% of the company’s stock.

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASCMA. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Ascent Capital Group by 3.9% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 89,937 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,270,000 after buying an additional 3,415 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Ascent Capital Group by 2.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 447,733 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,326,000 after buying an additional 9,468 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Ascent Capital Group by 1.2% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 38,385 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $542,000 after buying an additional 456 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Ascent Capital Group during the first quarter worth about $123,000. Finally, Alambic Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in Ascent Capital Group by 29.4% in the first quarter. Alambic Investment Management L.P. now owns 58,747 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $830,000 after buying an additional 13,331 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.09% of the company’s stock.

Ascent Capital Group Company Profile

Ascent Capital Group, Inc is a holding company. The Company’s subsidiaries include Monitronics International, Inc (MONI) and LiveWatch Security, LLC (LiveWatch). The Company’s segments include MONI, LiveWatch and Other Activities. The MONI segment is primarily engaged in the business of providing security alarm monitoring services: monitoring signals arising from burglaries, fires, medical alerts and other events through security systems at subscribers’ premises, as well as providing customer service and technical support.